This one is for Sainsbury's spinach and ricotta tortelloni pasta. I like this labelling because it is clear and easy to read. The main ingredients are listed in bold and the labelling provides details on the cheese (lactose and cow's milk). There is also a separate area (with the exclamation mark) for allergy advice that is complete, easy to read and understand.

This package is for Ryvita wholemeal rye crispbread with pumpkin seeds and oats (sort of like a large cracker). The list of ingredients is completed by a list of "contains" and a "may contain".

I couldn't scan the following label because I couldn't peel it from the jar. It's Loyd Grossman Tomato & Roasted Garlic pasta sauce. I like this labelling because without the allergy advice, you would never think that there could be traces of peanuts, nuts and sesame seeds by reading the list of ingredients. You don't have to buy it and then call the company to find out, which saves you money and/or the hassle of returning the product to the store.

In South Africa we dont have laws that insist on food labelling including allergens, but some of our better chains of grocery stores are including them which is great for those people who suffer from nut allergies or dairy allergies. I wish that it was enforced for all food, but hopefully that will come to pass sooner rather than later.

I find it scary how often i check the labelled products and see warnings and contrast that to identical products from other stores that dont have the warnings.

I find it scary how often i check the labelled products and see warnings and contrast that to identical products from other stores that dont have the warnings.

I agree. I wish that I had time to e-mail very company that I avoid so that I could explain the reason is that I can't trust there product.
Companies spend a lot of money in market research. Don't they understand that they could have our $ (and we might even be willing to spend a bit more) if they just had more acurate labels?
Alas, time is at a premium because I have to cook from scratch.

The UK has an independent, government agency called the Food Standards Agency. It works at 'arm's length' from Government because it doesn't report to a specific minister and is free to publish any advice it issues. The Food Standards Agency was set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food.

Here is the allergy and intolerance section. The paragraphs on "may contains" and "food labelling rules" are of particular interest. There are also a number of reports at the bottom of the page. http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/allergyintol/

I really wish we had the same type of organizations and standards in place down here, but i'm probably going to the uk in the next six months so i'll get to enjoy those sorts of things when i get there. I'm really impressed with the standards that food labelling has been taken to over in the uk and the us to a lesser extent.

Any organisations that we would get down here would always be government controlled and this will end up losing them money, because i would also be willing to pay a little more if the food was properly labelled. This would be highly unlikely to happen when government controls it...

Jules, if you're going to be living in the UK (hence grocery shopping), I recommend you shop at Sainsbury's. They have their own products and are very good at labelling for allergens. You can also get lists of all their foods and the allergens: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/food/specia ... rances.htm

Enjoy the UK. There's a big South African population in London, as you surely know. I'm a big Johnny Clegg fan and I got to see him perform in London back in 2004. What a party!

OK sorry...

Last edited by Storm on Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It's nice to know that there is such an awareness of allergens in food over in the UK - think we should raise awareness of it down here. Unfortunately there are so many other things to worry about that most people feel that it is just not important enough - although those tend to be the people who dont have to suffer through an allergy.

Off topic:
The large South African contingent is one of the reasons why i think london won't be too mcuh of a culture shock because there just seems to be such an invasion of us over there. Strange to know that people in other countries are far bigger fans of our local artists than we are

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